Cops and Motorcycles 02
TRIGGER WARNING FOR STRONG LANGUAGE. PLEASE READ WITH CAUTION. Author's note #1 : These characters are from S.H.I.E.L.D. High Role-Play Wiki. The characters belong to Miramc22, LivvyLove17, MermaidatHeart, and Noahm450, their roleplayers. Author's note #2 : This story is a continuation of Cops and Robbers and Cops and Spaceships. This will only make sense if you read the linked stories above. Author's note #3 : This is a continuation of Cops and Motorcycles 01. It will only make sense if you read the link above. Author's note #4 : This author owns none of the art and images shown. ---- The rest of the tour was uneventful. Gigi finished showing off The Cube and its many attractions, while explaining the rules and regulations in full detail. She maintained her optimistic attitude the whole time, which I admired her for. If I were in her shoes, I would've given up trying completely. I wasn't distracted like last time, but I didn't feel like pretending to be excited for her sake. I kept reminding myself, this was a prison. Nothing could change that; not free meals, or a pool, or even unlimited access to hoverboards. I knew that soon enough, I'd grow bored of those things anyway. But I'd be stuck with them, because escaping wasn't happening. My conscience was under the control of some unknown outside source, all thanks to a stupid wristwatch. Hell, I was lucky whoever ran The Cube didn't just turn their prisoners into mindless zombie-slaves! I still had free will, but that was the only thing I brought with me from the outside world. Ugh. "Alrighty, the tour's over now." Gigi stopped in front of a wide window. On the other side, I could see the planet of Contraxia in all its magnificence. I'd never been on its surface before, but just from looking at it through the glass, it was breathtaking. "I saved the best for last. This is my favorite place in the The Cube." "Really? Not the spa? You seem like you'd enjoy getting a manicure whenever you want." I was only half-kidding to lighten the mood. Her sea-green nails didn't have a single chip on them. I could practically picture her in a robe, with a towel wrapped around her head, and cucumbers over her eyes. She ignored my comment, and placed her palm on the window. "Nope. This window gives you the best view of Contraxia's moons. Not just in The Cube, though. In the entire galaxy." She sighed dreamily. Surely Contraxia looks better from a ship... I didn't want to hurt her feelings, so I didn’t voice my thoughts. Instead, I said, "It is really pretty. I get why you like it so much." "Thanks!" Gigi giggled, but as she looked at me, her perkiness disappeared for a second time. "Hey, Adam? Uh, about what happened with Dustin..." I furrowed my eyebrows. I'd already forgotten about all the horrible things Dustin said, about both me and Gigi. "Yeah?" "I, uh, I'm really sorry he gave you such a hard time. He isn’t easy to get along with, and uh, yeah, I do know from first-hand experience. But please, don't take what he said about Terrans personally!" Her hands laced together in a pleading form. "You aren't the Terran who caused his father's death, and it isn’t fair for him to hold you responsible for that.” She broke eye contact with me for a brief moment, as if she was replaying what she just said in her mind. “Besides, I don't think all Terrans are like that, and neither does anyone else. Okay?" "O-Okay. Yeah." I was taken aback by her sudden honesty. I really hoped she wasn't just saying that about Terrans to make me feel better. "Um, thanks, Gigi. That...that actually means a lot to me. I, uh, I was kinda worried everyone here would hate me or something." I forced an awkward laugh. "Adam, not a single person here is gonna hate you. You've messed up, but guess what? So have I. And so has everyone else. The Cube is our second chance, to learn from our mistakes and become better. But it only can be that for you if you make it." Gigi placed a hand on my shoulder. Something about how she said it was inspiring enough to wash away my anxiety. "Alright. Yeah. Um, I’m kinda tired. Can I go find my living quarters? Is our tour over now?" "Yeah, of course!" Her response left me wondering which of my questions she was answering. "But for real, if Dustin ever does anything like that again, call me ASAP. I’ll put him in his place. Got it?" "Uh-huh." I won't. ---- Before we parted ways, Gigi showed me a secret function of my watch: a holographic map of The Cube's interior. According to her, all I had to do was think of where I wanted to go, and the map would locate the quickest route and direct me there. It was like a GPS, except it was in my brain. Wait. Did that mean other people could possibly access my thought stream if my watch was connected to a network? Worse, could they hack it? I decided it wasn't worth debating over. Or maybe the watch decided for me, leading me to believe I was in control of my own mind. At this point, the line was blurring over between me and this machine. The more I tried to resist, the more it gave me a headache. That's alien technology for you, I suppose. I've emphasized before how it's far more superior to anything on Earth, so I won't go into detail. 4 minutes later, I entered a corridor. To the left and right, a series of doors were lined up, except...they weren't exactly doors. 'Doors' implies there was a knob to be pulled, pushed, or turned. These so-called doors had no knobs, no windows, nothing. The only thing plastered on them were numbers; the numbers to the dorm rooms. 226, 225, 224... I stopped at the not-so-much-of-a door with the number 223 in the center. 223 was my assigned dorm room. That piece of information had been installed in my head the second I entered The Cube, and its system of brainwashing juveniles for shits and giggles. The wall between the two spaces lifted up once it sensed my presence. Hesitantly, I placed a foot forward and pushed the rest of my body inside. The room itself was split into two parts: the left side and the right side. I could tell, because of the arrangement of each section, and how different they were from each other. The right side was cluttered. The dent on the pillow implied someone had been using that bed recently. The blankets weren't made, but rolled up like a burrito on top of the mattress. The desk that was perpendicular to the bed was the same shade of white as my uniform, and both pieces of furniture were enclosed by stacks of book-tablets, food wrappers, and other devices. On the walls, posters of The Collector, The Asgardian Royal Family, and Stakar Ogord's Team of Ravagers were plastered, parallel to each other. I noticed a scribble on the poster of The Collector, and realized it was an autograph. Based on the unorganized state of the right side of the room, that half belonged to someone else: my new roommate. The left side was bare compared to the right. All it had was a desk and a bed, neatly made. Ready for use. This was my side of the room. As I walked over to the desk, I noticed a box in the center, tied up by ribbon. A square of paper was tucked behind the ribbon, which turned out to be a card. TO ADAM PADYAO was written on the front in big black letters. To Adam, We'll miss you!! Have fun at The Cube!! We got you some Earth food as a farewell gift!! From, your friends at Nova Corps. A dozen signatures were sprawled throughout the card, with short handwritten notes. Including Vega's and Nova Prime's. My heart hurt at this sight. I was upset, yet, so sickened. No one had done anything except watch during my trial at Sovereign; not a single friend of mine said anything to possibly clear my name. Yet, here they were, trying to make up for it with a care package and a goodbye note. They could've prevented this, but they decided not to. How the hell could they possibly call themselves my friends?! Friends put each other before the reputation of themselves, and their corporations. Nova Corps should've just shunned me and acted like I never existed in the first place. That would've been better than this. I felt the paper's sharp edges on my palm, as it crumbled under the weight of my fist. I threw the box under my bed with a loud thud. I wanted nothing to do with them anymore. As I stood, the door slid open again. I heard footsteps, as someone else entered the room, but I continued to keep my back to them. The anger boiling inside me slowly calmed itself. "...Nah, dude, I gotta grab something from my room. I'll be right back, though. Don't leave without me!" The person who'd entered just then was calling out, but as they finished, their footsteps stopped. I felt their eyes loom over me. "Uh...hey. Are you my new roommate? Gigi said I should try and give you a proper welcome, but I didn't expect you to get here so soon. What's your name, man?" I turned, faking a smile, finally looking at my roommate. "Nah, it's no big deal! I've only been here for a few seconds, anyway. My name's Adam! I'm happy to be rooming with you." This guy's hair and eyes were dark, and his pale skin seemed to have no sign of scars or bruises. He was a Vanir, but one with far less facial hair than those I'd seen in the past. He was also decked out in a white jumpsuit, like literally everyone else in this place, and he had a satchel wrapped around his right shoulder. During the first few seconds, he had a relaxed expression, but it was tensing up. "Holy shit." His response was unsettling. Had I already said something to upset him? "You-you're the guy that stood up to Dustin Krause! The Dustin Krause! Dude, you're incredible! Nobody here has the balls to talk down to Dustin Krause, let alone someone who's only been here for a day! And you're my roommate?! This is, like, a blessing from Asgard or something!" I'd been anticipating him to say literally anything but that. "Um...nice to meet you too?" He blinked, and then smacked his forehead and broke into laughter. "Oh-oh my gosh, I'm so sorry about that. I can't believe I just threw all that on you, and you've only been here, like, what? An hour? Two hours? Or do you have a different method of time where you're from? Anywho, I'm Kirk. I've been here about..." He counted his fingers. "Six-and-a-half months, because I vandalized a statue on Jotunheim and nearly caused a war between the Frost Giants and the Vanir. Good times." Kirk was the type of guy who rambled. He reminded me of myself. "You've been to Jotunheim? Cool! I can't say I've been there, but it's on my to-do-list. Or, it was anyway." "It was alright. Not in my Top 10 of Planets, but..." He shrugged and rolled his eyes. "You're still having those first-day jitters, I see. Well, how about this? My friends and I were about to go to the dining hall for food. You wanna come with? I'm sure they'd love to meet the guy who stood up to Dustin Krause. Oh! And we can explain the real rules of this place. You know: the stuff Gigi and the tour guides won't tell you." "For real? That...that'd be great!" ---- Flash-forward thirty minutes. Kirk showed me the way to the cafeteria. It was wide in space, but even still, almost all the tables and booths were taken up. Some just had one person alone by themselves, some had two or three people chatting and stuffing their faces, some combined tables together to make room for their whole group. He showed me his favorite meal: a pasta-type dish with brown-pink noodles and purple sauce. I didn’t know what else to try, so I also got that. Along the way, Kirk also introduced me to his squad: four other kids who despised Dustin as much as he did. I was able to pick up their names, and I identified their races soon after. The first was a younger-looking Astran named Troy. Despite his age, Troy was the obvious leader of this group. Not just that, though. His right arm was mechanical, in a rusted shade of silver. The watch was on his other arm, to ensure he didn’t try taking off his prosthetic limb and freeing himself from the Cube’s control. The second was a Skrull who’d taken on permanent human form somehow. Her human form had grey eyes and short black hair; the single Skrull part left of her was her pointed ears. Her name was Vicki. The third was a Rajak named Griffin. Griffin claimed he was a mechanic, which probably explained why his watch was the first one I’d seen with a cracked screen. The last was a Kallusian with wild, dark hair. His name was Adrian. Adrian, Troy, Vicki, Griffin, and Kirk. A Breakfast Club crew bonded together over their hatred for someone else. I could relate. Still, why did I feel like I was barging into this group without asking first? We maneuvered our way through the maze of tables, and sat down somewhere in the middle of this cluster. The vibe I picked up from everyone else made my throat clog up. They were waiting for me to talk. They wanted to know more about me, to decide if I was worth talking to. And yeah, I wanted to make a good impression, but I felt like I already had made an impression because of Dustin. They were wrong, by the way. I hadn’t stood up to him. I just didn’t cower in fear from his insults, and neither did Gigi. Why weren’t they talking about her? If anything, Gigi stood up to Dustin way more than I had. I started off with manners. “Um, thanks for letting me sit with you guys.” “Not a problem. Kirk thinks you’re a cool dude. I take his word for it.” Troy nodded in the direction of my roommate. “Speaking of...word is you’re from Terra.” Adrian picked up his utensil, and pointed it at me. “I had a homie who knew a guy from Terra. He told me that planet really has no idea there’s a whole other universe out there. Is that true? Like, are they ignorant to us or what?” How did they know I grew up on Earth? I hadn’t mentioned it to them yet. “Well...no, they’re not ignorant to you guys. I just...think they have bigger problems.” “‘Bigger problems’?” Vicki scoffed. “Dude, Loki-effing-Laufeyson went up on their asses with a bunch of Chitauri monsters! How the hell can you say they have bigger problems?” “Vicki, language, please.” Troy rolled his eyes. She made a point. I placed my hand on my chin as I thought back to it. “Well, honestly, I think their problem is that they don’t always agree with each other’s opinions. Actually, they don’t ever really agree on anything. And since you mentioned it, I was there when Loki invaded Earth. I don’t remember much about it, but I will say this: millions of people would’ve died, including me, if the Avengers hadn’t stopped Loki.” “Oh. Really? ...I had no idea.” Vicki tucked hair behind her ears, embarrassed by having been proven wrong. “Sorry about that.” “It’s fine. It was a long time ago. I left Earth a few months later. For all I know, the Avengers could’ve broken up between then and now.” Griffin raised his hand. “Yeah, um, question? You keep mentioning “The Avengers,” but I’ve literally never heard that name before now. Who are they?” “I was wondering that too!” Adrian added. “Are they, like, Terra’s Galactic Confederacy?” “What’s the Galactic Confederacy?” I asked. Griffin’s eyebrows narrowed. “Hang on. You don’t know what the Galactic Confederacy is?!” “In his defense, neither of you know who the Avengers are.” Vicki snickered. “OH, COME ON, VICKI!” As bickering ensured between Vicki, Adrian and Griffin, I turned to my right. Kirk was slumped back in his seat with a dull expression painted on his face. He had stopped eating, and I realized he hadn’t spoken a single word since the conversation began. Had I said something to upset him? Troy noticed the same thing. “Kirk, everything alright?” To answer, Kirk pointed behind me. “Look.” My gaze followed his finger. It was Dustin. He was seated at a table, by himself, playing with his food. Sad wouldn’t even begin to describe how he looked; he was homesick. He’d mentioned during our argument how his mother was an alcoholic, and he had a younger brother who he raised on his own. He missed them, I realized. He regretted whatever mistake he made to end up in The Cube, because now, he had no way of talking to his loved ones. He was more lonely than he’d ever been before, and that loneliness was driving him insane. Like me. Kirk didn’t find it sad like I did. Rather, he was laughing at it. “That’s pathetic. He’s just begging for pity now, and he knows it. Too bad he’s not gonna get any.” “Not that I don’t agree with you, but the more we stare at him, the more likely he’s gonna notice.” Troy advised. I tore my eyes away from Dustin, and turned to Vicki, Adrian, and Griffin, who had toned down their bickering. My appetite was gone. “If it’s alright with you guys, I’m gonna go back to my dorm. I still need to set up my bed for the night. See you in a bit, Kirk.” All five of my new friends watched me stand up in confusion. “But we just sat down! And you still don’t know about the Galactic Confederacy!” Adrian protested. “You can tell me about them tomorrow.” I picked up my plate with a half-eaten meal resting on it. “Not like I'm going anywhere.” “Wait, Adam! Don’t leave!” Griffin grabbed my arm, staring up at me with big puppy-dog eyes. “Are you gonna finish eating that?” ---- My first day of the next ten years: complete. Only nine years and three-hundred sixty-four days left. It was late at night. Classes would begin early the following morning. I’d gotten my schedule, and it was implanted in my brain watch in case I forgot. I was lying on my bed, staring at the ceiling. Kirk was fast asleep; I could hear him breathing. As for me, I wasn’t tired. I had too many regrets keeping me awake. I already missed the taste of freedom. Of my friends. I already missed Nova Corps a lot more than I wanted to admit. Yeah, they had forfeited my chance of imprisonment, with only a care package to make up for it, but I still missed them. I missed Vega, I missed my crew...I even missed Britni and Mikaela, who were probably in college back on Earth. I missed Earth. I missed all the people I knew there. I hated the fact that their faces were blurring away in my memory. I hated the fact nobody would know what had happened to me now. I hated the fact that- What do we do now? Now? We stick together. All of us. A glimpse of her face appeared in my head, and instinctively I tried to repress it. I was opening old wounds just by remembering her. Not just her, though. All of them. I missed Lori. I missed Evan, AJ and Seth. For the longest time, I blamed myself for what had gone down. I blamed myself for not keeping our promise. Hell, I was the leader of The Galaxy’s Junior Guardians! And now that was just a name of people forgotten by history. Outshined by Peter Quill and The Guardians of the Galaxy. Obviously it was my fault. I let them down. I let her down. All I could hope was that they were doing better than I was. Category:Stories Category:TGJG Parts Category:CAM Parts